FREMONT - The big city has come to Fremont, and the Uber drivers that brought it here are hoping to get the word out.

Uber is a national, on-demand transportation service that connects people who need rides with private drivers who use their own vehicles to take clients where they want to go. Finding and connecting with drivers is done through the Uber app.

The process is simple. Once the Uber app is installed on a client’s smartphone, he or she can type in their current location and the address they want to travel to, and the app will connect them with a local driver. Payment is made online, and the passenger can view the driver’s photo and car description and track the driver’s location as he comes to pick him up.

Uber drivers Christina Joiner and Guy Crispen, both from Fremont, said business was slow when they first started, but the word is starting to get out that Uber has come to town.

“Fremont’s a tough town to get people to understand what Uber is,” Crispen said. “But since I started in 2015, it’s picked up quite a bit. I have made some good money doing it.”

Business has really only increased in the past couple of months. Joiner became an Uber driver about six months ago, and she said she had very little business the first four months.

“It’s a big city thing, and it takes about five years for things to catch on in a town this size,” she said.

But that has started to change. Crispen and Joiner, who have different driving schedules, are both keeping busy transporting clients around town and beyond the city limits. Uber drivers choose their hours, and since retiring from driving a truck last April, Crispen has chosen to be on call from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. most days, with occasional breaks.

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Driver Christina Joiner said it has taken a while to get Fremont residents to realize that Uber is in town. A few young clients were so excited to find out that the service, which is more common in big cities, was in Fremont that they took photos of themselves in Joiner’s car and posted them on Instagram.(Photo: Sheri Trusty/Correspondent)

During daytime hours, Crispen will drive clients to work, the store, doctors' appointments or anywhere else they want to go.

“I take one guy to rehabilitation. Some of the people don’t have vehicles or their cars are broken down,” he said. “I give a lot of rides out of the city. I’ve taken people to Cleveland, Detroit and Columbus.”

Joiner has a full-time job besides being an Uber driver, so she only drives on the weekend. She said she has some regular customers who need transportation almost every week, and she also drives some of her clients out of town.

“I’ve gone to Oak Harbor, Bellevue and Perrysburg,” she said. “There was one man from Minnesota that was working here in town. He would call me to take him to Taco Bell and to stop by the store to get a few snacks.”

But most of Joiner’s weekend clients are looking for rides to local bars, which is more than fine with her.

“I’m a big ‘don’t drink and drive’ person. I have a big problem with that, so I feel like I’m stopping some of that,” she said. “It’s a good thing. I’ve had a few I’ve had to roll out of the backseat.”

Many of Crispen’s evening customers want rides to bars, as well. He said calling Uber cannot only save lives, but, in the long run, paying a small Uber fee is much cheaper than paying a DUI fine.

“I’m out to save them money,” he said. “It costs $5.60 one way, anywhere in the city limits. It’s $9.08 one way to go to Clyde.”

Because payment is only made online, Uber drivers don’t have to worry about being robbed.

“If somebody gets in my car and tries to rob me, they’ll only get the 50 cents in my pocket. I’m not dumb enough to carry money,” Crispen said.

Joiner and Crispen became Uber drivers less for the money than for the opportunity to meet new people.

“Truthfully, I started doing this just for fun. The people you meet and the stories you hear make it fun,” Joiner said. “I have some couples that talk all the way to the bar and all the way home. I really enjoy that.”